Cranberries are one of the most overlooked foods, and overlooked berries for that matter, in the entire world, but they actually happen to be one of the healthiest foods you can buy.
According to Dr. Josh Axe, a well known holistic doctor with nearly three million fans on his Facebook page, cranberries contain five times more disease-protective antioxidants than spinach, and five times more than many other fruits on the ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity) scale.
They also contain a bevy of disease-fighting, nourishing and detoxifying compounds for specific parts of the body, offering support for the health of the kidneys, circulatory system, liver and much more.
While the benefits of this healing fruit are almost too many to list, there’s one particular way you may be sabotaging your health if you do consume cranberry juice, according to Dr. Axe.
The One Type of Cranberry Product to Always Avoid
Fruit juice, including cranberry juice, is naturally sweet on its own, although cranberry juice does offer more of a tart taste overall.
Unfortunately, commercial cranberry juices like Ocean Spray are often adulterated with tons of extra sugar, putting a damper on their potential health benefits.
Store bought juices also lose their effectiveness when they’re pasteurized, as this process destroys the extraordinarily beneficial healing enzymes these products naturally contain.
Related: Why You Should Be Concerned About Juice Pasteurization (And Save Your Money)
It is chiefly for these reasons that Dr. Axe recommends avoiding store bought cranberry juices at all costs, instead telling his patients to opt for highly concentrated, preferably organic cranberry extract supplements or fresh, whole organic cranberries that are juiced at home.
Cranberry is of course famously known for its ability to cleanse the urinary tract and help people heal from UTI (urinary tract infections).
In Dr. Axe’s case, he recommends that his patients get off all sugar when they have a UTI, and instead begin eating tons of vegetables for about a week while also bolstering their cleansing diet with a cranberry extract supplement.
Learn more in the video below, and be sure to share this information with anyone who may be drinking too much of the store bought, sugar-laced cranberry juice out there:
